Protective bed rails removed for camper shell?

The place that sold and installed my topper put it down on the plastic bed rails with the typical clamps and I have leaks. I've since seen tops installed with what appears to be the rails removed and direct contact to the metal bed rail. Is there a choice or does the type/brand of topper dictate this?

 

You need a gasket to seal the topper to the rails. You don't have to remove the rails. An "o-ring type" works the best, but is more expensive. The tape/foam seals don't last very long.
I bought the double o-ring roll and clamps from these guys, with good results: http://www.truckoutfittersplus.com/store/topper_parts_clamps.htm

 

The topper is designed to be set on rail caps. Topper won't fit proper if they are removed. Like Skytower mentioned seal should be installed between topper and rail caps. But most leaks are from the rail cap and the bed rails. I had same leaks I ran a small bead of silicone under rail caps and top of bed rails to seal them. My main leak was at front of bed rail caps where bedside meets up with composite bed (seam). I also installed tailgate seal.
Hope this helps.

 

I have had a LEER on both my 2006 and my 2013, the 2006 was on there for 170,000 miles without being removed but once at about 150,000 miles, I had no leaks with the foam tape. I did however have a leak in a factory Toyota seem in the front corner under the bedrail where the front and sides of the bed are joined which I siliconed.

Both of my caps were designed to go over the factory bed cap (skirted), IMO it looks bad if you had a "non-skirted" cap with the bedcap sticking out. Here is where you need to be concerned... be sure that your cap does not force the bedrail cap down onto the paint, especially in the front corners. My cap dealer actually ground a small bid out of the front corners of the fiberglass cap where it rounded to keep it from happening, you'll never see where he did it. I realized after 150,000 miles that the corners were being forced down and it rubbed through the paint under the bed rail caps down to bare metal. I removed the bed rail caps and brush painted the bare spots before reinstalling the cap....you'll never see it. I wondered why I would get an occasional rusty streak on my super-white paint, that explained it.

A second bit of advice... mark all the way across where the rubber gasket hits your tailgate, remove your top tailgate cover, install some thick 2" wide black rubber tape, or 3M clear material, even with that line, and reinstall the cap. With the cap door closed, you'll never see it, even on my super white trucks. If you don't, the door gasket WILL rub through your paint down to bare metal.

 

Go back to the place that sold you that thing and have them fix it. Perhaps thier mechanic missed the gasket? You paid to much for that to have it leaking.

 

I just found out that two manufacturers make a product to fill the gap at the front of a Tacoma bed, where the side rails are higher than the front rail of the truck bed. Most installers just put some extra tape up there, but there is a special product. I just ordered this one: http://shop.extrudedsolutions.com/Front-Rail-Seal-XL_c9.htm but there's also one here: https://www.custompickup.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2397. For those with leaks up front (which is always my problem area) I hope this helps! Mine hasn't arrived yet so can't say if it works.

 

Thnx Becky, ill check it out.

 

Did get this and did it work?

 

Yes, I did get the http://shop.extrudedsolutions.com/Front-Rail-Seal-XL_c9.htm gasket.
It worked a LOT better than the smaller, wimpier one the installer used the first time. Unfortunately, I gave it to the installer to put on, and instead of carefully cutting the gasket across the front rail to slant to meet tightly with the side rail gaskets, he cut it off straight, leaving a triangular hole at each end where the straight edge he had cut met the curved side of the side gaskets. He then just rolled up some foam and stuffed it in the resulting large gaps. Needless to say, THAT didn't work AT ALL. It was too late at that point to install it right (you can't un-cut gasket!) so I took out the foam scraps he had stuffed in there and slathered clear bathroom tub & tile silicone caulk all over the area, filling those holes, but also extending a foot in both directions from those holes, both inside and out. Even this was not perfect--it still leaks a bit in the rain. But it is working a lot better than either the original inadequate gasket and the good gasket with the stuffed foam. Lesson learned: if humanly possible install it carefully yourself! You're the one who cares if it leaks so you will do a better job than they will. I thought I couldn't install it myself because I can't lift the whole shell without a forklift. But when I was redoing his sloppy job I discovered I could lift the front OR back by myself by stooping inside the truck with my shoulders against the top of the shell, then starting to stand up. I'm a 58 year old woman, so I think most folks could do this. Then while holding it up I had a partner put in blocks of wood to hold it up off the rail while I took out the stuffed foam scraps and started the caulking. Then I lowered the front back down onto the caulk. Note: I clamped a long 2x4 across the back over the back tailgate to be sure the (sloped) shell didn't slide backwards while I was working on it. If I had it to do over again, I'd do the whole thing myself by lifting the whole shell a few inches up as described, but front and back (finding a way to brace it so it can't fall sideways) and do the whole project myself. I believe if I had done that and cut the front gasket carefully that would have worked. Good luck!